Review: The Terror: Devil in Silver: Season 3 (2026)

The Terror is a series of limited series developed for AMC. I was first aware of it as the first season adapted Dan Simmons' novel The Terror, but since that found success, they have developed the show so that each season covers a different story with different cast.  This is a similar-ish approach to shows like American Horror Story and Scream Queens where each season has a different plot but in those cases uses the same cast.

Season 3 of The Terror is based on the novel The Devil in Silver by Victor Lavell, and is six episodes long. This is a benefit because unlike many 'limited series' it doesn't outstay its welcome and does not need padding to make up the length, issues which often plague this format, making the shows drag and end up being a chore to get through four or five episodes of plot expanded out to ten or twelve episodes.

The plot follows Pepper (the always excellent Dan Stevens) who is arrested by police after a fight and thrown into a mental asylum, the New Hyde Hospital, rather than just being charged. The hospital staff immediately drug him and he finds that the other residents there are likewise drugged and have been there for a long time.

There's something creepy going on there too, with people hearing voices and having visions of nocturnal vistations ... plus there is a mysterious silver locked door ... which no-one must enter ... it's all very well done, creepy, and well played.

When the revelations start to come, they're well developed, and we discover what is really happening here, and what lengths the 'management' are going to in order to keep their secrets and to keep whatever the strange entity is happy.

I won't give it all away here, as the show is worth watching, and as it's only six episodes, is an excellent binge-worthy watch for Halloween!

The entire season is now available on blu-ray from Acorn Media International, and Seasons 1 and 2 are also available. The blu-ray also contains a very short behind the scenes documentary and a photo gallery.

Review: Colony (2026)

Train to Busan was one of the standout zombie films of recent years, and so I was excited to see that the director Yeon Sang-ho had a new film coming called Colony.

Now it has arrived, and I experienced it on a 4K UltraHD Blu-Ray! It doesn't disappoint.

Written by Yeon Sang-ho with Choi Gyu-seok, the film charts a zombie outbreak in a shopping/hotel/conference building, and so has similar vibes to Train to Busan which places the protagonists and the zombies in a limited location from which they cannot escape.

We follow a small group who find themselves initially trapped in a shopping mall when the outbreak hits. The set up is perhaps just best stolen from the Wiki as it's complex:

Scientist Seo Yeong Chul (Koo Kyo-hwan) warns the police that he will launch a bio-terrorist attack at the Dongwoo-ri Building, then injects himself with the supposed vaccine to his mutated slime mold bioweapon. Meanwhile, Chains Bio is holding a presentation in the building, where CEO Kang Woo-chul demonstrates the slime mold's cell-regeneration capabilities. Kwon Se-jeong (Jun Ji-hyun), an ostracised and unemployed professor, attends after being invited by the company, hoping to secure a job through her ex-husband Han Gyu-sung (Go Soo), who is preparing to emigrate overseas. Security guard Choi Hyun-seok (Ji Chang-wook) is also at the building with his mobility-impaired older sister, Hyun-hee (Kim Shin-rok).

Thus Kang Woo-chul is infected by Seo Young-chul and the outbreak spreads rapidly. The infected initially are animalistic, running on all fours and attacking anything which seems human: including photographs and shop dummies. But they learn, and have a hive mind in that what one discovers is rapidly transmitted to all the other zombies, so they get clever, and track, and slowly our intrepid band of surviving humans is whittled down.  In this sort of film, even the nice people die!

What I liked about it, as with Train to Busan, is that the film is clever. It presents intelligent situations and the development of the zombie infection is well worked out. There are shocks and scares aplenty, and the performances are superb, both from the humans, to the infected. These films seem to have nailed the jerky infection progress and the physical element is just terrifying to watch.

If you're a fan of the zombie genre, then this film is not to be missed. It's exciting and well done, brilliantly performed, and most importantly original. A truly excellent entry in the zombie genre.

New Doctor Who Book Reviews (September 2026)

Another roundup of some Doctor Who titles recently published ... as usual there are a fair few coming through, and so without further ado ...

On top of the teetering pile is a paperback edition of The Adventures Before ... the idea here is to present short stories based before some popular Doctor Who stories ... and as discussed in my review of the hardback (https://howeswho.blogspot.com/2024/11/review-doctor-who-annual-whodle.html) I found the book disappointing overall. The paperback adds a new story to the mix, 'The Night of the Shreek' by Pete McTighe, in which Ruby and the 15th Doctor first meet a Shreek, preluding the events of 'Lucky Day'. The story was actually first published in the official 2026 Doctor Who Annual, released in 2025.

Another paperback edition with a new story included, is Time Lord Fairy Tales the hardback of which hails from 2015, and which was written by Justin Richards. I didn't review this at the time, but the content is as it says on the cover: various fairy stories are retold with Doctor Who monsters included ... they're nicely written, and as with all the BBC Children's Books fare, aimed at younger children. The new story is 'The Doctor and the Three Witches' by Janelle McCurdy and involves the three Carrionites from the story 'The Shakespeare Code' in a fairy tale interlude with Martha and a female Doctor (maybe the 13th? It's not specific), the UNIT Black Archive and Osgood ... a mixed bag!

Not a book, but a rather lovely magazine is next. Museum Guide Book: The Classic Doctor Who Collection is a publication from Neil Cole at the Museum of Classic Sci-Fi. Intended as a guide to the Doctor Who props, costumes and ephemera collected by Neil for his museum, the 48 page guide lavishly pictures the items, along with some text explaining the context and how the museum comes to have the items. I love this sort of publication, with items from the first four Doctors all rubbing shoulders. So there are some negatives and prints from 'The Keys of Marinus', a camera script from 'Planet of Giants' and a script from 'The Savages', alongside a Gundan Robot from 'Warriors' Gate' and Target cover roughs and BBC cover roughs from artist Andrew Skilleter. An impressive collection.

The idea is that visitors to the museum can buy the guidebook, so I'm not sure how available it is outside of actually visiting the museum, but if you are in the Hexam/Allendale area (postcode area NE47), then the Museum is well worth a visit.

Next up is an 'annual'-styled special from the Doctor Who Appreciation Society. Doctor Who 70-79 is a celebration of the seventies period of Doctor Who and also marks 50 years of the DWAS.

We have interviews with Caroline John and Mary Tamm alongside many pieces exploring different aspects of the series. Contributors include Dale Smith, Matt Hills, Simon Guerrier, Tony Jordan, Jeremy Bentham, Paul Scoones, Jon Preddle, Keith Barnfather and Dez Skinn. Edited by Bruce Nicholson and designed by Paul M C Smith, the book is full of colour photographs and is very pleasing to the eye. Unlike the official BBC fare, it also majors on the written content, rather than the photographs, and thus is more suited for the older fan. The book is available from Lulu, priced at a very reasonable £16.00. https://www.lulu.com/shop/paul-smith-and-bruce-nicholson/doctor-who-70-79/hardcover/product-m2evrqj.html

From BBC Books comes the regular Doctor Who Annual for 2027. As there is no Doctor Who on television at this time, the publisher and editor (Paul Lang) have decided to make this a sort of 'best of'. I guess they have pared down on original material by reprinting material from past annuals, but this cost saving means they can increase the page count, so it's 126 pages long. This approach actually works really well, and the book provides a whistlestop tour of the last 20 years or so of Doctor Who. The earlier Doctors get a brief look in too, and all told it's a bright and lively race through the show, and something that would be sure to keep a youngster occupied for Christmas Day ... I like the inclusion of a 'Where's the Doctor' spread, the short stories and comic strips ... all keeping it exciting and interesting for someone new to the series.

With the uncertainty over the future of high street chains like W H Smith/T G Jones at the moment, one does wonder if the end of the Annual may be upon us. I hope they can find a format which continues to excite, and more importantly sell copies, for next year and beyond.

Finally, a vast doorstep of a book from Wonderful Books. This is Screen Printed, a 550 page updated print version of a previously free PDF book looking in detail at the old Target Doctor Who novelisations. Unlike my own The Target Book which focussed more on the behind the scenes development of the range, as well as looking at the cover art, this is focussing on the books themselves, seeking to pin down all the reprints, cover variants and so on through the years, using what information is available. It's a fascinating piece of work and is really invaluable to collectors of the books. Especially of interest are all the associated uses of the artwork, and details of where it has been displayed over the years.

I assume that author Paul M C Smith has decided to make this available at this time, as BBC Audiobooks have just completed their run of audios of all the original Target books, making this a good place to position it. It's also up to date to the 2026 set of books (Aliens of London, The Satan Pit and The Time of Angels).

Hopefully any future additions will be made available as add-on PDFs, as the book is too expensive to keep buying updated copies of!

The book costs £36.87 and is available from Lulu (https://www.lulu.com/shop/paul-mc-smith/screen-printed/hardcover/product-dy4w549.html)

Review: Harbinger (2026)

Low budget filmmaking can produce some impressive results, and there's a lot about this new horror from Shogun films to enjoy.

Released on blu-ray by 101 Films, Harbinger is one of those 'group of people get slaughtered in a house' type films, but they have added an original twist that the killings are being carried out by a possessed arcade machine called 'Harbinger', a variation on the Zoltar seaside 'tell your fortune' machines. 

Thus a group of documentary film makers descend on the house in which Julia (Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott) lived and was attacked five years previously by a serial killer Henry Decker (Peter Woodward). They bring Julia with them and intend to make a new episode of their series Spectre Investigates, fronted by Mike Craggs (Gary Webster). There to capture the proceedings are the sound girl April (Maisey Gee), her boyfriend cameraman Barney (Joseph Emms), make-up girl Kathryn (Anna Arthur), who Barney has been sleeping with and who has got pregnant, a supernatural expert Chris (Johnny Palmiero), and psychic Neil (Tony Sands). However the Harbinger machine doles out some tarot-like cards to each of them, and soon they realise that the figure in the machine is out to get them!

The film has a lot going for it. There's some smashing cinematograpy and drone work, some great colour palates inside the house (very inspired by Italian Giallo, and Dario Argento's film Suspiria in particular), and some great performances from the majority of the cast.

Where the film is let down is in the choice of the leading lady, and the script. Jeanine Nerissa Sothcott is sadly weak in the role. Her scenes fall flat and it's a struggle to believe in her as Julia. This is just thrown into contrast by the rest of the cast who are universally excellent, and I wished one of them had ended up as being the 'final girl' here rather than Julia.

On the script front, the biggest issue for me was that the tarot cards given by the machine should have been predictors of how these people would meet their ends ... but while some hint at it, others seem to have no bearing at all. In a film of this type, where the whole 'point' is the killings, they should have been far more imaginative and clever ... far more like the sort of deaths presented in the Italian Giallos which this film tries (and mostly succeeds) in matching for visual style and flair. It's a shame that the stalking Harbinger figure seems to just resort to mostly strangling people and killing them with a knife.

There's some material in here which doesn't make a lot of sense. For example, if this house belonged to Julia, then why leave a valuable painting on the wall? She takes the 'job' with the film crew to earn some much-needed money to help her aged mother (an excellent scene with veteran actress Carole Ann Ford holding her own) - but why do that if there was money tied up in the old house which she obviously doesn't live in any more. I was also puzzled by the whole sequence of the young girl in the bath with the mask on ... it seemed out of place. The film also drags in places, which with six killings to execute (sorry) and only 90 minutes to do it all in, is something of an issue.

Overall Harbinger was enjoyable, but sadly the choice of lead makes it a harder watch and a lot less fun and action packed than it could have been.

How to get my books!

I'm seeing more and more people posting that my books aren't available in the USA or Australia, and how can I get copies ...

The real challenge I think is that shipping costs have gone through the roof over the last 5-6 years and it now costs more than the book to ship things overseas (from the UK, which is where I and all the books are physically located).

However there are a few options available.

If it's signed copies that you're after, then if you order from my own store here:

https://samantha-lee-howe-ltd.sumupstore.com/products?category=9b37b1db-0176-46fd-bc88-1f79643f4d74

Then all the books are signed and all have options for USA and Australia shipping ... so while the cost might be higher than from Amazon or whatever, Amazon may not have the titles in your country anyway!

The store has all my non-Telos Publishing titles:  My Doctor Who Memoir Who Me! in all editions (hardback, paperback, trade paperback, and proof copy); the new Doctor Who audio Shard of Life is there too, as are my two Doctor Who review books Then and Now ... so please check it out if you're looking for something that I have written!

Many other titles are now also published by Telos Publishing, and so you can head to www.telos.co.uk to find them, and most are also available on Amazon where you live ... so it's always worth checking there as well!

If all else fails, you can always reach out to me on social media - you never know ... I might have copies of what you're looking for!  https://www.facebook.com/davidjhowe/

Review: The Mortuary Assistant (2026)

A new film from the horror streaming channel Shudder ... and apparently it's based on a bestselling video game. I've never heard of it, but then I don't 'do' computer games so I'm not the target market in that regard.

I suspect though that this background is at the same time the film's greatest strength and it's greatest weakness.

I'm reminded of other films taken from computer games where I've never played the games. Movies like Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Doom. In each case the film makers took the apparent essence of the game, and managed to construct a decent plot around it, so that the viewers were not left in the dark about what was going on. In the case of The Mortuary Assistant, it's the plot that's lacking. The script could have done with another draft or two to really nail what was going on and to translate that to scares on the screen. Instead I assume they've taken the 'plot' of the video game and established that the fact that the location is so key there, that so it is in the film (they mention this in the brief behind the scenes documentary that accompanies the film on blu-ray). Except that it isn't really.

I'm reminded of a film with an apparently similar premise, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, which is again set in a mortuary and has limited characters. That film manages to be terrifying and intriguing (mainly due to a brilliant performance from Brian Cox), but The Mortuary Assistant, despite heaps of atmosphere and scares, just manages to be confusing for the early to mid part of its runtime.

The plot revolves around the eponymous assistant, Rebecca Owens, who has just passed her 'exams' or whatever they are, and can now look after things in the mortuary on her own. Thus her creepy boss suddenly asks her to do a night shift as bodies have come in that need processing. And so she's on her own in the place with these cadavers.  But the cadavers don't seem to be that dead and start moving and coming back to life ... except maybe they're not, and perhaps she's hallucinating. Or not.

It's this uncertainty about what's happening which loses the audience. I started not to really care what happened as it was never 'real' and we reset back to where we were before. Lots of great jump moments and creepiness abounds, but it never amounts to anything.

But then the film turns and it's suddenly a possession movie, where an ancient demon wants to possess Rebecca's body (not sure why her's and no-one elses - it seemed to possess a lot of the corpses ... if that was what was happening)  And to stop it she needs to find out it's name and create it on a large pendant thing and burn it on her chest or something.  The runes which make up the name are, for some reason, burned into the walls of the mortuary, but she can only see them in the flame from a lit piece of parchment.

As you can see, the 'but why?' factor is high here, and there are few answers. You just need to go with it and hope it all sort of comes out ok at the end.  Cue lots of creeping around the mortuary with a single flame looking for the marks and trying to avoid the hallucinations and the demon ... great video game fare!

In the film's favour are just about every element except the plot!  The practical effects are exceedingly effective, but also gratuitous. The gore of the dissections and attacks are wincingly realistic, and to be honest a little too much for me. But they are superbly done! The performances are first rate, with a great central character in Rebecca (Willa Holland). The set design, lighting and direction are excellent, providing some fascinating angles and prowling camera throughout, and the music and sound design is also first rate, adding to the atmosphere and general ambience of the film.  It's just the script which lets it down.

Overall it was an entertaining watch, but because of the gore and body horror which starts from virtually the first frame and doesn't let up, it's not a film I would rush to watch again. I guess if you love a film with some great gruesome effects in, and are not too worried about it all making total sense, then you may love this to pieces!

The film is now available as a blu-ray which also contains a single behind the scenes featurette from Acorn Media.

Review: The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth

Two new releases from AllTheAnime.com, and two classics from the Henson studios.

First up is The Dark Crystal. Following the success of Jim Henson's Muppets on television in Sesame Street and then their own The Muppet Show, the idea was mooted for a film which could feature them. Furthermore, there would be no human performers at all ...

The Dark Crystal takes this idea and runs with it big time. Everything on screen is puppetry and animatronics in real time: no CGI no AI no animation ... and yet this major selling point for the film becomes its biggest downfall. You just don't care much about the lead characters Gelflings Jen and Kira. They can't emote and act as a human performer would, and so while you can follow the plot and Jen's journey to complete the titular Dark Crystal, you don't really care. 

It's also all taken dead seriously, with the Skeksis being evil and cackly and the peaceful Mystics being, well, slow and peaceful. And this impedes the film. It's all a little ponderous and heavy.

There are some gorgeous sets and shots. A favouite is a long slow pan across a forest where everything is alive from the plants and fungi to the trees and animals and insects ... all created through puppetry. It's beautifully done and testament to the skill of the makers.

I know the film holds a special place in many fans' hearts, but sadly it just doesn't do it for me. I admire the talent and inventiveness that went into it, but I wish they had used real actors for the two Gelflings to give more humanity and emotion to the performances.

And speaking of using human actors brings us to the second film realeased by All The Anime.com, Labyrinth.

For this film, while it's the same production team, and it features puppetry and animatronics, they very wisely decided to use humans for the main protagonists, and in a genius move of casting, paired a young 14 year old Jennifer Connolly, with the pop icon David Bowie. And the magic happened.

Take an inventive and clever script from Monty Python's Terry Jones and combine with the visual flair of artist Brian Froud (who also worked on The Dark Crystal) and they managed to capture lightning in a bottle with the story of a young girl who asks the Goblin King to take her baby brother away, and then has to traverse the eponymous labyrinth to rescue him, making friends and meeting all manner of strange creatures along the way.

The film is a tour de force and Connolly and Bowie are perfectly matched in their battle of words and deeds to rescue baby Toby. But it's some of the subsidiary characters who stick in the memory, in particular Hoggle (who is deliberately mis-named as Hogwort by Bowie a couple of times - was this film perhaps a favourite of a certain J K Rowling?), a masterpiece of animatronic face (controlled by four operators) and actor-in-a-suit to bring it all to life. Likewise is the amazing lumbering Ludo, an orange-haired ape creature with a single operator within to bring it to life, as well as having an animatronic face. Add the voice talents to the visuals and the effect is seamless, the creatures leaping off the screen and into your heart.

It's all just so well done. The merging of elements like M C Escher's paintings, the toys in Sarah's bedroom coming to life, the goblin myth and legend, and above it all, striding as some beautiful, powerful Goblin King, the master himself, David Bowie.

Bowie's performance is towering. He's such a talent, and composed the songs for the movie himself, as well as performing them. When you compare this performance with his equally powerful role in the film The Hunger, you can see what a talent he was. Charisma on a stick!

As you can probably tell I love Labyrinth. It takes the seeds that were sown in The Dark Crystal and matures and improves on them at every turn. I don't think the film puts a foot wrong. Even down to the tone, which this time is distinctly humourous. Yes, the leads take it all very seriously, but there is humour in nearly all the subsidiary characters from Didymus and Ludo through to the incompetant guards and other elements which appear throughout the movie.

The prints on these two releases are great quality and show off the films to their best advantage, and they come with a wealth of extras, from documentaries to outtakes, and even to casting reels, which for Labyrinth show that they really did make the right decision casting Connolly. A shame that her audition reel is not included though.

Available from www.alltheanime.com